Ships hit by U-boats

Pendrecht

Name	Pendrecht
Type:	Motor tanker
Tonnage	10,746 tons
Completed	1939 - NV Rotterdamsche Droogdok Mij, Rotterdam
Owner	NV Phs. van Ommeren´s Scheepvaartbedrijf, Rotterdam
Homeport	Rotterdam
Date of attack	8 Jun 1941	Nationality: Dutch

Fate	Sunk by U-48 (Herbert Schultze)
Position	45.18N, 36.40W - Grid BD 7212 - See location on a map -
Complement	36 (0 dead and 36 survivors).
Convoy	OB-329 (dispersed)
Route	Holyhead (30 May) - New York
Cargo	Ballast
History	At 16.15 hours on 18 Dec, 1940, the Pendrecht (Master A. Meinsma), dispersed the day before from convoy OB-259, was hit on the starboard side in the stern by one torpedo from (Lehmann-Willenbrock) in 59°05´N/17°47´W (grid AL 3568) after being hunted by the U-boat for about one hour. The ship had left Cardiff on 7 December for New York in ballast. The crew abandoned ship first, but later reboarded her and started to move again. The U-boat had no torpedoes left in the tubes, only one stored on deck, so they had to surface in some distance because the tanker was armed. In the meantime two other tankers showed up and one of them fired two shots, so that the U-boat had to evade. While following the damaged tanker the torpedo was loaded into the U-boat, but during the night they gave up the pursuit of the ship, which reached Rothesay on 21 December. There were no casualties among the crew. The Pendrecht had a 14 metres wide hole in the side and went to Glasgow for temporary repairs, later to Swansea because it was planned to make permanent repairs in the USA.
Notes on loss	At 15.45 hours on 8 Jun, 1941, the Pendrecht (Master A. Meinsma), dispersed on 5 June from convoy OB-329, was hit on the port side amidships and in the stern by two torpedoes from U-48 about 500 miles northwest of the Azores. The master tried to stabilize her by counterflooding, but the tanker sank by the stern within minutes after being hit under the funnel by a coup de grâce at 16.17 hours. All crew members had abandoned ship in three lifeboats, twelve in each one. The survivors in the first lifeboat were picked up by the British steam merchant Alresford on 10 June and taken to Sydney, Newfoundland. The men in the second were picked up by the HMS Pandora on 18 June and the survivors in the third were picked up by the American passenger ship Excalibur on 22 June and were taken to New York.

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